Anti-paper leak law: Proceedings against accused in NEET and NET cases to be subject to new, stricter law

Manash.GohainNew Delhi: The government has decided to prosecute those involved in manipulating this year’s NEET-UG for medical entrance as well as UGC-NET for becoming university professors under the Law public examinations (prevention of unfair means) which has just been notified, a decision which would mean that violators would face harsher penalties than those they would have faced under the provisions of the IPC. Government sources said that even though the alleged leak of NEET-UG and UGC-NET documents predated the notification of the new central law on Saturday, the CBI would investigate the offenses and file a case against the accused under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, which was enacted in February during the last session of the previous Lok Sabha. The Ministry of Personnel, Grievances and Public Pensions on Monday also notified the rules for conduct of public examinations by the Centre, which prescribe the procedures for conducting investigation and filing reports against persons involved in cheating during public examinations. as well as those involved in paper leaks in Bihar and elsewhere will face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to Rs 1 crore. Similarly, students found to have resorted to unfair means in places like Godhra can face a sentence of at least three years along with a fine of Rs 10 lakh. The law aims to prevent unfair means during public examinations conducted by UPSC, Staff Selection Commission, Railways. , Bank Recruitment Exams and NTA, among others. According to the rules, educational institutions, coaching centers or any other entity found to be complicit in facilitating unfair means may be subject to legal action, including fines and other sanctions. The involvement of “coaching centers” in recent irregularities is already the subject of investigations. Coaching institutes and their staff as well as examination authorities and service providers can face up to 5 to 10 years in prison. These measures are significantly tougher than current regulations on fraud, counterfeiting and paper leakage, which carry a maximum prison sentence of three years. These rules require the National Recruitment Agency (NRA) to establish norms, standards and guidelines for computer-based testing (CBT), among other responsibilities. The rules include provisions regarding “the use of services of other government agencies by the public review authority”, “the development of norms, standards and guidelines” and “reporting incidents of unfair means or ‘offences’, among others. as a pre-audit for public examination center exam preparation, candidate registration, biometric check-in, security and screening, seat allocation, setting up and loading Question sheets, invigilation, post-examination activities and guidelines for the provision of scribes will also be part of the standards. The new rules also include provisions for reporting incidents of unfair means or offenses and “procedures to be followed in relation to public servants”. For this purpose, the public review authority may establish a committee which will examine all relevant information and submit its findings to the public review authority.